At most of her appearances, Chiarelli will address listeners not just as a singer, but also as a filmmaker. In addition to performing the music that made her a Juno Award winner in her native Canada, she’ll also be screening “Music From the Big House,” a project that was a decade-long labor of love for her.

On Nov. 21, 23 and 24 she will appear at Catt’s Avalon 360 at 360 Dauphin St. Each night she will present the documentary at 6 p.m., followed by a Q&A session. Chiarelli will perform nightly at 8 p.m.; dinner will be available 5:30-7:30 p.m. Admission is $12 for Bienville Club members, $20 for nonmembers. (Chiarelli also will return to the venue on Sunday, Nov. 25, to transform the weekly jazz brunch into a blues brunch.)

On Thursday, Nov. 22, Chiarelli will be featured at the Bienville Club. A Thanksgiving buffet runs 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; a screening of "Music of the Big House" starts at 2 p.m., followed by concert at 3:30 p.m. All-inclusive admission is $34.95 for adults, $12.95 for children 12 and younger. Movie and music only admission is $15 per person.

“Music From the Big House” depicts a concert given by Chiarelli and other performers at Louisiana’s Angola Maximum Security Prison. In addition to performance footage, it features interviews with some of the inmates. Chiarelli said it took 10 years to get the film made, but this year she’d done extensive touring to promote it, taking it to about 25 U.S. states so far.

Chiarelli said her initial motivation to visit the prison was musical, but she found more.

“We wanted to go into Angola Prison, historically a famous prison for the blues and music in general, folk music,” she said. “There’s dozens of recordings that came out of Angola.”

“It’s so much more than just the concert,” she said. “It’s a great lesson on life, too. … I think we were all moved and changed in a certain respect.”

“It really opens up your heart,” she said. “When these guys talk truly from the heart … It’s pretty hard not to be moved. And I think that you approach life a little differently, with an open heart. Not to sound too sappy, but you do come out of there feeling differently and feeling moved and maybe having a little more compassion in general.”

“As far as my music goes, I do roots and blues music,” Chiarelli said. Some is tradition, some is original.

“When I write my music, I truly try not to censor myself,” she said. “My music is a combination of different roots music, definitely drenched in the blues, but sometimes there’ll be a little bit of country blues in there, or jazzy blues, or rock and stuff.”

Whether through film or music, she said, she hopes to help people open their hearts.